In the processing of poultry eggs from laying of the eggs through incubation and hatching, the steps of collection and transport and the mode of holding the eggs during the incubation and hatching stages are critical to the efficiency of the overall operation.
The procedure in use today, one that has been practiced for several years, is to provide at the production facility egg holding trays, commonly also known as egg flats, into which the eggs are placed as they are collected. Egg flats in use today typically are in the form of molded plastic trays having a pattern of cells or receptacles each of which is capable of receiving and supporting an egg. Normally the eggs are held in an upright position (long axis vertical) with the small end down.
The flats are used not only as a means for storing and transporting the eggs from the laying house to the hatchery but also as holders of the egg during the incubation and hatching process. The flats are so constructed that air space exists between the walls of the receptacles and the outside surface of the eggs so that properly conditioned air can be circulated through the flat and past the egg surface. As a consequence, a principle key to volume production within a space of defined limits resides in the number for a flat of given dimensions, the greater number that can be placed within an incubator or hatcher of given dimensions. The ratio of number of eggs per unit of square measurement of an egg flat is referred to as egg density.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an egg flat of a configuration such that appreciably greater egg density per flat is achieved while providing still for effective circulation space around the eggs and while still conserving substantially in the amount of material that is required for construction of the flat.
Another important object of the invention is to provide an egg flat of the character described which also provides egg support surfaces which are effective to maintain the eggs in the tray during the tilting movements to which the flats and trays are subjected during the "turning" of the eggs takes place during incubation period.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an egg flat of the character described that can with ease be inserted in and removed from an incubator or hatcher without danger of "hanging up" at an intermediate point and causing accidental damage to the eggs.
A further object of the invention is to provide an egg flat in which the design configuration of the individual egg receptacles is such that substantially more uniform air flow through egg flats and around the eggs than has been achieved in the past is made possible.
The objectives of the invention as outlined above are achieved in general by providing a uniquely formed and shaped egg flat which can be constructed of lightweight plastic material yet which, because of the configuration of the flat, is capable of many repeated uses over a long period of time without damage to itself or to the eggs and which achieves a much higher egg density than has heretofore been possible.
The receptacles in the flat are formed, in rows running transversely of the flat, by a series of sinuously continuous wall forming partitions which define the side walls of each egg receptacle, the walls for each receptacle being formed as a pair of symmetrical ogee arches joined at their open ends and terminating at the opposite ends at the apices of the respective arches. Adjacent transverse rows are staggered, with the wide part of a receptacle in one row coinciding with the connection between apices of two receptacles in the next row. Specially located tabs or flanges extending inwardly into each receptacle from the bottom of each side wall provide ledges on which the eggs rest. In addition, the flat includes rows of receptacles running along each side of the flat which are constructed to permit use of continuous planar side walls for the flat which facilitate side by side stacking and which are coordinated with support rails for the flat, the upper surfaces of which serve also to provide support for the eggs in the side receptacles.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention together with the features of novelty appurtenant thereto appear in the course of the following description.